1. Field of the Invention
The invention herein relates to pneumatic conveyor systems. More particularly it relates to a pneumatic conveyor system for the rapid and efficient conveyance of ice and similar small frozen food items.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In many commercial establishments there are ice dispensers from which patrons, employees or both can collect ice pieces (such as ice cubes) for chilling beverages or for other purposes. Among the most common examples of such establishments are the "fast food" restaurants. In a typical fast food restaurant there will be a single large ice making machine in the kitchen area which manufactures large quantities of ice cubes. In the food serving area (behind the counter) and/or in the customer service area (in front of the counter) there will be at least one and usually several beverage and ice dispensing machines. Those behind the counter will be utilized by the serving staff to prepare iced beverages for window service to drive-up patrons or for counter service, while those in the customer service area will be used directly by the patrons. Commonly a patron will order and receive his or her food tray along with an empty beverage cup at the counter. The patron will then take the empty cup and food to a nearby beverage and ice dispenser, fill the cup with ice and a beverage, and then take the food and the chilled beverage to the dining area.
Such beverage and ice dispensing machines do not normally manufacture ice. Rather, each contains an internal bin which holds a limited quantity of ice cubes. The ice cubes can be dispensed from the bin by the patron's manipulation of a lever or other control which opens a dispensing chute and allows a predetermined quantity of ice to fall into the patron's cup which is held below the discharge end of the chute. It will be readily appreciated that during busy times of the day, such as meal hours, a large number of patrons and/or the service staff will be using such dispensing devices and the ice bins in the dispensers will frequently run out of ice. When this happens with a patron-area dispenser the patrons will be understandably annoyed. When it happens with a dispenser used by the serving staff, service to drive-up and counter patrons will be impeded and such patrons will become annoyed by having to wait for long periods of time to receive their beverages. To avoid this problem, such restaurants commonly assign an employee to monitor the ice and beverage dispensers and to keep the ice bins adequately full by periodically hand-carrying quantities of ice from the ice making machine in the kitchen to the dispensing machines. However, for many reasons such periodic manual refilling of the ice bins often does not get accomplished; the assigned employee may be busy at other tasks or may be forgetful, the restaurant may be especially crowded and busy, patrons may be dispensing ice in larger quantities or more rapidly than anticipated, and so forth. Whatever the cause, the failure of the restaurant to provide adequate quantities of ice upon patrons' demand is a constant and real source of customer dissatisfaction.
Other establishments also need effective ice manufacture and distribution. Many restaurants other than fast food restaurants have salad bars, seafood bars, smorgasbords, dessert bars and the like where food must be kept chilled on beds of ice. Since the ice beds are exposed to the restaurants' normal room temperatures, the ice rapidly melts and must be periodically replenished. Similarly, cafeterias routinely place plates of salads and desserts, containers of beverages, and similar foods on beds of ice to stay chilled until selection by patrons. Again the ice beds rapidly melt and must be replenished. The same is true of supermarkets, grocery stores, and meat and fish markets, where many fresh vegetables and especially meats and seafood are displayed on beds of ice to keep them chilled.
Outside the restaurant, grocery and food service fields, hotels and motels provide ice vending machines available to guests so that the guests can fill room ice buckets and have ice available for beverages in their own rooms. In the hotel/motel setting the vending device will be an actual ice maker, similar to the one used in a restaurant kitchen. However, since a number of such ice makers are needed to server guests throughout the facility, the overall cost is high. Therefore hotels and motels seek to minimize the number of such machines they have on the premises while yet providing a sufficient quantity of ice available to satisfy guests' demands. However, because the number of machines is kept to a minimum, many guests find that the location of the closest ice machine is inconvenient to their rooms. Conversely, those whose rooms are close to the ice making machines frequently complain about the traffic and noise associated with other guests coming to obtain ice.
Further, ice is commonly used in hospitals for a number of purposes, including providing chilled beverages to patients and staff and filling ice packs for patient treatment. As with hotels and motels, hospitals normally use ice making machines, but again because of the cost the number of such machines is kept to a minimum consistent with patient service and care. However, because of the minimum number of machines, frequently hospital staff find that they must walk long distances to obtain ice from the closest vending machine, extending the time away from their assigned posts.
Transport of small frozen food items other than ice is also important in many instances. For instance, in food processing plants many products are composed of small food items such as corn kernels, peas, small pieces of meat, etc. Prepared soups, stews and similar products are examples of composite foods which use many such small food items. Such products are usually formed by collecting the food items in already frozen form, or by collecting and cooking some or all of the small items and then freezing them. (In either case, the purchaser buys the composite food product as frozen and then thaws and cooks it at home.) The small frozen food items are currently transported at the food processing plant by being place in large wheeled containers, manually pushed to the desired location for cooking, packaging, etc., and then hand-dumped into the appropriate packaging device, cooking kettle, etc.
Manual transport and replenishment of ice or food items are often unsanitary and unsafe. Such introduces the real possibility of contamination of the ice or food, since the person handling the ice or food may be ill or dirty, or the ice or food, while open to the ambient atmosphere, may come into contact with bacteria, dirt, or other contaminants. Ice frequently spills while being transported, and if not promptly cleaned up will melt, causing dangerously slippery floors. Also, manually moving ice can cause injury to the workers, such as back injuries from lifting heavy containers of ice or injuries from falling while attempting to dump the ice into the dispensers (which are normally elevated).
The present invention overcomes these problems, and fills a long-felt need for convenient, economical and, optionally, automatic conveyance and provision of ice and other small frozen food items.
Only one other ice conveyance system incorporating pneumatic technology has been described. Ice Flow Systems of Ireland markets a system which is much more technically complex, expensive and susceptible to malfunction than the system of this invention. It is believed that the Irish system has not received approval in the United States from the National Sanitation Foundation.